Godot Tree for Samuel Beckett’s Waiting For Godot
The Cockpit, London
1 – 29 October 2014

Paul Hazelton’s involvement in creating the Godot tree for this production came out of a conversation with the actor, Peter Marinker (Vladimir) about an idea he had been thinking about for exhibition.

In making the tree for this production one could say that Paul Hazelton has adopted Samuel Beckett’s reductionist approach. Hollowing an entire tree, an Elder, that had fallen during a winter storm, it has now become a shell of its former self, its surface breaking up to reveal its inner void. Just like how Beckett strips language to its barest essentials Hazelton breaks down his visual world. For example, for several years he has been creating gossamer-like sculptures from household dust and more recently he has also been stripping back and hollowing objects just short of them ceasing to exist. Hazelton believes that when something is on the verge of existence it becomes more vital and more real. This is why Samuel Beckett’s writing has such an appeal for him.

Many artists have given their interpretation of the Godot tree from Alberto Giacometti, who worked directly with Samuel Beckett, to Derek Jarman and more recently, Anthony Gormly. Hazelton’s tree continues this tradition.